1945–46 Southern League Cup (Scotland)

The 1945–46 Southern League Cup was the sixth and final edition of the regional war-time football tournament. The North Eastern League and North Eastern League Cup had ended the previous season, teams from those competitions joined the Southern League and Southern League Cup. With the Southern League now acting effectively as a national league the competition was split into two Divisions, The league cup was therefore also split into two divisions.

Aberdeen won the tournament, defeating Rangers 3–2 in the final at Hampden Park before a crowd of 135,000. This was the last edition of the competition, but the trophy itself was used again for the 1946 Victory Cup played only a few weeks later (won by Rangers), therefore Aberdeen only possessed the cup for a short time. The same teams met in first official Scottish League Cup final the following year.

Group stage

Division A

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Heart of Midlothian	6	3	2	1	12	8	+4	8
St Mirren	6	2	2	2	6	8	−2	6
Falkirk	6	2	1	3	10	11	−1	5
Hamilton Academical	6	2	1	3	6	7	−1	5

Source:

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Rangers	6	5	1	0	15	3	+12	11
Morton	6	3	1	2	15	7	+8	7
Motherwell	6	2	1	3	9	13	−4	5
Queen of the South	6	0	1	5	4	10	−6	1

Source:

Group C

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Aberdeen	6	4	0	2	21	13	+8	8
Hibernian	6	4	0	2	10	7	+3	8
Partick Thistle	6	1	2	3	6	6	0	4
Kilmarnock	6	1	2	3	4	11	−7	4

Source:

Group D

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Clyde	6	4	0	2	21	13	+8	8
Celtic	6	3	1	2	14	10	+4	7
Third Lanark	6	2	2	2	11	15	−4	6
Queen's Park	6	1	1	4	9	17	−8	3

Source:

Division B

Group A

Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
East Fife	6	5	1	24	10	+14	10
Alloa Athletic	6	4	2	11	8	+3	8
Raith Rovers	6	3	3	15	16	−1	6
Cowdenbeath	6	0	6	10	26	−16	0

Source:

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Ayr United	6	4	1	1	12	7	+5	9
Dundee United	6	4	1	1	12	7	+5	9
Stenhousemuir	6	1	2	3	8	13	−5	4
Dumbarton	6	1	0	5	7	12	−5	2

Source:

Play-off


Ayr United	1 – 0	Dundee United	Hampden Park, Glasgow

Group C

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Airdrieonians	6	3	2	1	16	5	+11	8
St Johnstone	6	2	2	2	12	8	+4	6
Dunfermline Athletic	6	2	1	3	6	10	−4	5
Albion Rovers	6	2	1	3	6	17	−11	5

Source:

Group D

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Dundee	4	2	1	1	11	4	+7	5
Stirling Albion	4	2	0	2	6	10	−4	4
Arbroath	4	1	1	2	6	3	+3	3

Source:

Quarter-finals


Aberdeen	2 – 0	Ayr United

Airdrieonians	1 – 0	Clyde

Heart of Midlothian	3 – 0	East Fife

Rangers	3 – 1	Dundee

Semi-finals


Aberdeen	2 – 2	Airdrieonians	Ibrox Park, Glasgow

Rangers	2 – 1	Heart of Midlothian	Hampden Park, Glasgow

Replay


Aberdeen	5 – 3	Airdrieonians	Iibrox Park, Glasgow

Final

11 May 1946

Aberdeen	3–2	Rangers
Baird 1' Williams 19' Taylor 90'		Duncanson 49' Thornton 70'

Hampden Park, GlasgowAttendance: 135,000Referee: W. Webb

Teams


Aberdeen:
GK		George Johnstone
RB		Willie Cooper
LB		Pat McKenna
RH		Andy Cowie
CH		Frank Dunlop
LH		George Taylor
OR		Alex Kiddie
IR		George Hamilton
CF		Stan Williams
IL		Archie Baird
OL		Willie McCall


Rangers:
GK		John Shaw
RB		Dougie Gray
LB		Jock Shaw
RH		Charlie Watkins
CH		George Young
LH		Scot Symon
OR		Willie Waddell
IR		Willie Thornton
CF		Billy Arnison
IL		Jimmy Duncanson
OL		Jimmy Caskie

References

Kevin Stirling (27 January 2014). "League Cup History 1946". Aberdeen F.C. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
"Rangers 2–3 Aberdeen". FitbaStats. 11 May 1946. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
"Match Report: Aberdeen 3–2 Rangers". AFC Heritage Trust. 11 May 1946. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
Aberdeen Win Deserved, The Glasgow Herald, 13 May 1945
Aberdeen League Cup Success | Last-minute Goal Beats Rangers, The Scotsman, 13 May 1945, via London Hearts Supporters Club

External links

Southern League Cup at Scottish Football Historical Archive (archived version, 2015)

v t e Southern League Cup seasons
1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46

v t e 1945–46 in Scottish football
« 1944–45 1946–47 »
Domestic leagues	Southern League A Division B Division
Domestic cups	Victory Cup Southern League Cup Glasgow Cup ('45, '46) Junior Cup
Related to national team	Results British Victory Home Championship
Club seasons
A Division	Aberdeen Celtic Clyde Falkirk Hamilton Academical Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Kilmarnock Morton Motherwell Partick Thistle Rangers Queen of the South Queen's Park St. Mirren Third Lanark
B Division	Airdrieonians Albion Rovers Alloa Athletic Arbroath Ayr United Cowdenbeath Dumbarton Dundee Dundee United Dunfermline Athletic East Fife Raith Rovers St. Johnstone Stenhousemuir

v t e Aberdeen F.C. matches
Scottish Cup Finals	1937 1947 1953 1954 1959 1967 1970 1978 1982 1983 1984 1986 1990 1993 2000 2017
Scottish League Cup Finals	1947 (April) 1955 1976 1979 (March) 1979 (December) 1985 1987 1988 1989 1992 1995 2000 2014 2016 (November) 2018 2023 (December)
European Cup Winners' Cup Final	1983
European Super Cup	1983
Other	1946 Southern League Cup 1951 Saint Mungo Cup Final

v t e Rangers F.C. matches
Scottish Cup Finals	1877 1879 1894 1897 1898 1899 1903 1904 1905 1909 1921 1922 1928 1929 1930 1932 1934 1935 1936 1948 1949 1950 1953 1960 1962 1963 1964 1966 1969 1971 1973 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1989 1992 1993 1994 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2008 2009 2016 2022 2024
Scottish League Cup Finals	1947 (April) 1949 (March) 1951 1957 1960 1961 1963 1964 1965 1966 1970 1975 1978 1979 (March) 1981 1982 1984 (March) 1984 (October) 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1992 1993 1996 1998 2002 2003 2005 2008 2009 2010 2011 2019 2023 (February) 2023 (December) 2024
SFL Championship Play-offs	1891 1905
Scottish Challenge Cup Finals	2014 2016
European Cup Winners' Cup Finals	1961 1967 1972
UEFA Europa League Finals	2008 2022
European Super Cup	1972 (unofficial)
Other matches	1901 Glasgow International Exhibition Cup Final 1902 British League Cup Final 1946 Southern League Cup 1946 Victory Cup Berwick Rangers 1–0 Rangers (1967) 1971 Ibrox disaster Rangers 2–2 Celtic (1987) Dubai Champions Cup (1987) Progrès Niederkorn 2–0 Rangers (2017)

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